YNAB alternatives

Quick picks

For comparison, YNAB is $14.99 a month or $109 a year, with phone and web apps, bank import in the US, Canada, the UK and the EU, and one subscription shared with up to five other people. If those matter most to you and the price doesn't, staying with YNAB may be the right call.

Envelope, zero-based or tracking?

The apps below budget in three different ways, and that matters more than any feature list.

• Envelope. You divide money you already have among categories, spend from them, and move money between them when plans change. This is YNAB's method. UrBudget, Actual Budget, Buckets, Principal Plan and Goodbudget work this way.
• Zero-based, month by month. You plan the income you expect this month until nothing is left unplanned, then start again next month. EveryDollar works this way.
• Tracking. The app pulls in transactions from your bank and compares your spending with a plan or a limit. Monarch, Copilot, Simplifi, PocketSmith, Tiller and Moneydance work this way. Some can be bent toward envelopes, but they aren't built around them.

UrBudget

An envelope budget for Windows and Mac that you pay for once. It imports a current YNAB budget, with its targets, notes and scheduled transactions, and checks every month against YNAB's own totals.

• Price: free for 30 days with no account or card, then $9 once for all your own computers, with future updates. Sync between your computers is optional, at $2 a month.
• Runs on: Windows 10 and 11, and macOS 12 or later.
• Method: envelope, with targets, credit-card payment categories, rollover and Quick assign.
• Bank connections: none. You import statement files from your bank (CSV, OFX, QFX or QIF) and see every row before it's saved.
• Your data: in a file on your computer, with automatic backups. It works offline and needs no account. Sync is encrypted with your passphrase before it leaves your computer.
• Coming from YNAB: paste a YNAB token and click Import, or use YNAB's export file. YNAB 4 files can't be imported.
• Limits: no phone, tablet or web version, no bank feeds, and no shared budget for several people. The app is in English, with any currency.

UrBudget vs YNAB · How switching from YNAB works

Actual Budget

The free, open-source envelope budget. Its desktop app runs on its own, with a built-in local server that also handles bank sync. What takes time or money is using it on a phone or a second device, which means making that server reachable or hosting one.

• Price: free. Syncing between devices needs a server they can all reach: your own, or a paid host such as PikaPods.
• Runs on: desktop apps for Windows, Mac and Linux, and in a browser. On phones it's an installed web page, which needs a server.
• Method: envelope, or a simpler tracking budget if you prefer.
• Bank connections: optional, through Actual's server (the desktop app's built-in one works) and your own account with a provider: SimpleFIN Bridge in North America ($1.50 a month or $15 a year), Enable Banking in Europe, Akahu in New Zealand and Pluggy.ai in Brazil. GoCardless isn't taking new accounts. Files: QIF, OFX, QFX, CAMT.053 and CSV.
• Your data: on your device, and on any sync server you use. End-to-end encryption is optional.
• Coming from YNAB: built-in importers for YNAB 4 and the current YNAB.
• Limits: no app-store phone app, and the keys for bank sync sit on the server outside end-to-end encryption.

UrBudget vs Actual Budget

Buckets

A desktop envelope budget you buy once, with a free trial that never runs out.

• Price: $64 once, for all your computers and those of family members living with you. The trial has no time limit; it shows a sticker, adds a bucket for saving up for the license, and reminds you now and then.
• Runs on: Windows, macOS and Linux. Phone apps for iOS and Android are read-only for now.
• Method: a form of envelope budgeting.
• Bank connections: import OFX, QFX or CSV files, record a private macro for your bank, or connect through SimpleFIN Bridge, a separate paid service.
• Your data: a SQLite file on your computer. Devices share budgets through an encrypted shared folder, a relay or your local network, and you merge incoming changes yourself for now.
• Coming from YNAB: imports YNAB 4 budgets and the current YNAB's export file.
• Languages: 22, translated by volunteers.
• Limits: the phone apps can't edit yet, and sharing between devices takes some setup.

UrBudget vs Buckets

Principal Plan

A desktop envelope budget for Windows and Mac with a long trial, and the choice of paying monthly, yearly or once.

• Price: free for 60 days with no card or account, then $1.99 a month, $19.99 a year or $39.99 once.
• Runs on: Windows 10 or later and macOS 12 or later, with a free companion app for iPhone, iPad and Android.
• Method: envelope: income goes into envelopes as it arrives, and templates split a paycheck in one step.
• Bank connections: none. It imports CSV, OFX/QFX and QIF files, skips duplicates, suggests envelopes from your history and can watch a folder for new downloads.
• Your data: in a file on your computer. The phone app receives only the envelope balances you choose, encrypted end to end.
• Languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese.
• Limits: the phone app is a viewer, so you can't enter anything on it, and there's no YNAB import.

UrBudget vs Principal Plan

Goodbudget

The envelope method on the web and your phone, built for households that share one budget.

• Price: a free plan with 20 envelopes (10 regular, 10 more), 1 account, 2 devices and 1 year of history. Premium is $10 a month or $80 a year, with unlimited envelopes and accounts, 5 devices and 7 years of history.
• Runs on: the web, iPhone and Android.
• Method: envelope: you set money aside in each envelope up front and spend from it.
• Bank connections: Premium syncs with US banks only. Any plan can import OFX, QFX or CSV files on the web.
• Your data: in your Goodbudget household, on Goodbudget's servers.
• Sharing: everyone signs in to the household with the same login, and changes sync across your phones.
• Limits: the free plan has one account, and bank sync is for US banks only.

UrBudget vs Goodbudget

EveryDollar

Ramsey Solutions' zero-based budget, on the web and your phone.

• Price: a free version with manual entry. Premium is $79.99 a year or $17.99 a month, with a 14-day trial for new users.
• Runs on: the web, iPhone, iPad and Android. The phone apps and Premium are for the US only.
• Method: zero-based, month by month. Unspent money doesn't carry over by itself, except in Funds.
• Bank connections: Premium, through Mastercard and Plaid. No file import of any kind.
• Your data: in your Ramsey account, on EveryDollar's servers.
• Sharing: invite your spouse to your household, and you both edit one budget.
• Limits: bank connections, custom reports and CSV export are Premium only.

UrBudget vs EveryDollar

Monarch Money

A dashboard of every account you have, kept up to date through bank sync, with a budget on top.

• Price: Core is $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year; Plus is $199.99 a year. 7-day free trial, with a payment method required.
• Runs on: the web, iPhone, iPad and Android, in the US and Canada.
• Method: tracking first. The budget is based on cash flow (planned income minus spending and savings): one number for flexible spending by default, or a budget per category, with optional rollovers.
• Bank connections: Plaid, Finicity and MX, plus CSV import on the web.
• Your data: on Monarch's servers. You can download your transactions even after you stop paying.
• Sharing: invite household members at no extra cost, each with their own login.
• Limits: not an envelope budget, and no one-time price.

UrBudget vs Monarch Money

Copilot Money

An automatic spending tracker for iPhone, iPad and Mac.

• Price: $13 a month or $95 a year, after a one-month free trial.
• Runs on: iPhone, iPad, Mac and the web. No Android app.
• Method: tracking first: spending budgets per category with optional rollovers, not tied to your income.
• Bank connections: more than 10,000 US institutions, mostly through Plaid. US accounts only.
• Your data: on Copilot's servers.
• Sharing: no separate logins; you share your own sign-in.
• Limits: US banks only, and Apple devices or the web only.

UrBudget vs Copilot Money

Quicken Simplifi

Quicken's web and phone app: a low-cost tracker that works out what you have left to spend each month.

• Price: $6.99 a month, billed yearly. On October 17, 2026, new members could get the first year at $3.99 a month, also billed yearly, until November 13.
• Runs on: the web, iOS and Android.
• Method: a Spending Plan: income minus bills, subscriptions and savings leaves what you can spend. Quicken says you can shape it into envelope or zero-based budgeting.
• Bank connections: more than 14,000 financial institutions. Quicken's products aren't designed for use outside the US and Canada.
• Your data: on Quicken's servers; it's a cloud app.
• Sharing: add one other person.
• Limits: tracking first, and billed yearly only.

PocketSmith

A tracker built around a calendar and long-range forecasts, with bank feeds in many countries and several currencies.

• Price: a free plan with manual imports, 2 accounts and 12 budgets. Paid plans run from $9.99 to $26.66 a month billed yearly, or $14.95 to $39.95 billed monthly, with a 14-day money-back guarantee.
• Runs on: the web, with a companion app for iOS and Android.
• Method: tracking and forecasting: budgets sit on a calendar, and PocketSmith projects your balances ahead, from 6 months on the free plan to 60 years on the top one.
• Bank connections: on paid plans, live bank feeds in 49 countries. The cheapest paid plan connects 6 banks from one country. Every plan can upload bank files.
• Your data: on PocketSmith's servers.
• Sharing: collaborator access for a partner, family member or coach.
• Limits: not an envelope budget, and the bank feeds you get depend on the plan.

Tiller

Bank feeds into your own Google Sheets or Excel spreadsheet. The budget is whatever your spreadsheet does.

• Price: free for 30 days, then $99 a year, with a full refund in the 30 days after that.
• Runs on: Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel. There's no Tiller phone app; you use the Sheets or Excel apps.
• Method: tracking in a spreadsheet. Tiller's Foundation Template has monthly and yearly budgets, and you can change anything.
• Bank connections: daily feeds from more than 12,000 institutions. US-based banks only; some others may work, but UK banks don't.
• Your data: in your own spreadsheet, in your Google or Microsoft account.
• Sharing: through Google Sheets or Excel sharing, at no extra cost.
• Limits: you build and maintain the spreadsheet yourself.

Moneydance

A desktop money manager in the style of Quicken, sold once, with budgets alongside accounts, bills and investments.

• Price: $65 once, including a free upgrade to the next major release, for one household. The free trial stops at 100 manually entered transactions, and there's a 90-day money-back guarantee.
• Runs on: Mac, Windows and Linux, with free iPhone, iPad and Android apps for entering transactions and checking balances, synced with your computer.
• Method: tracking: budgets by the week, two weeks, month or year, compared with what you spend.
• Bank connections: free downloads from banks that support OFX Direct Connect. Moneydance+ adds more than 11,000 North American institutions for $4 a month or $40 a year.
• Your data: in a data file on your computer.
• Limits: not envelope budgeting, and the wider bank connections are a subscription.

UrBudget vs Moneydance

Common questions

Is there a free YNAB alternative?

Yes. Actual Budget is free with no limits: it's open source, budgets the way YNAB does and imports YNAB budgets. The catch is running a server if you want it on a phone or a second computer. Goodbudget's free plan gives you 20 envelopes, one account and two devices, and EveryDollar has a free version where you enter transactions by hand. Buckets' trial never runs out, though it reminds you to buy a license. UrBudget isn't free: it's free for 30 days, then $9 once.

Which YNAB alternatives are a one-time purchase?

UrBudget ($9), Principal Plan ($39.99 for its Forever license), Buckets ($64) and Moneydance ($65, with bank downloads through Moneydance+ extra). Actual Budget is free. The others are subscriptions.

Which ones run on a desktop computer?

UrBudget and Principal Plan run on Windows and Mac. Buckets, Moneydance and Actual Budget's desktop app also run on Linux. Copilot has a Mac app, and Tiller lives in Google Sheets or Excel. The rest are web and phone apps that you use in a browser on a computer.

Which ones can bring over a YNAB budget?

UrBudget imports a current YNAB budget through a YNAB token, with targets, notes and scheduled transactions, or from YNAB's export file; it can't read YNAB 4 files. Actual Budget has importers for YNAB 4 and the current YNAB. Buckets imports YNAB 4 budgets and the current YNAB's export file. With the others you start fresh, or import transaction history from a CSV file where the app allows it, as Monarch does.

Which ones work outside the US?

UrBudget works in any currency, with statement files from any bank. Actual Budget's bank sync covers Europe, New Zealand, Brazil and North America, and PocketSmith has bank feeds in 49 countries. Buckets and Principal Plan import files from any bank and come in several languages. Copilot and Tiller connect to US banks only, Goodbudget's bank sync is US-only, EveryDollar's phone apps and Premium are US-only, and Monarch's apps and Simplifi are for the US and Canada.

All of them side by side

Every product named here is a trademark of its owner. UrBudget isn't affiliated with any of them.

• All comparisons
• Switch from YNAB
• UrBudget vs YNAB
• Getting started with envelope budgeting